{"id":142786,"date":"2025-03-19T02:07:49","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T02:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/agriculture\/california-farmers-advocates-urge-lawmakers-to-invest-in-climate-resilient-agriculture-calcan\/"},"modified":"2025-03-19T02:07:49","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T02:07:49","slug":"california-farmers-advocates-urge-lawmakers-to-invest-in-climate-resilient-agriculture-calcan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=142786","title":{"rendered":"California Farmers & Advocates Urge Lawmakers to Invest in Climate-Resilient Agriculture – CalCAN"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

On March 11, dozens of farmers, ranchers, and advocates from across California met with over 30 legislative offices to urge the legislature to take this critical opportunity to invest cap and trade funds in climate resilient agriculture to protect food affordability and farm viability. Legislators and staff had the opportunity to hear firsthand from producers how programs like the Healthy Soils Program (HSP), Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP), State Water Efficiency & Enhancement Program (SWEEP), and Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program (SALC) improve farm viability and resiliency while reducing carbon emissions. The day was part of our larger <\/span>campaign advocating for a 15% continuous appropriation of GGRF funding for agriculture<\/b><\/a>.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Engaging with Legislators<\/b><\/h2>\n

The offices of <\/span>Assemblymembers Macedo, Flora, and Alanis<\/b> were particularly interested in how <\/span>AMMP<\/b> not only reduced methane emissions but had significant co-benefits for farmers. One farmer shared how his <\/span>manure separato<\/b>r purchased through AMMP allows him to create a high-quality source of compost that saves him money on fertilizers and improves his croplands. Another dairyman spoke about how his <\/span>\u201cweeping wall\u201d<\/b> purchased through AMMP has led to significant quality of life improvement, saving him time and labor on manure management. \u201cWeeping walls\u201d trap manure solids in the water used to flush out barns behind a wall of slats, allowing relatively clean water to seep through into storage ponds to be recycled. This separates up to 85% of the manure solids, which can be spread on fields as fertilizer after drying on concrete pads.<\/span><\/p>\n

Assemblymember Hart<\/b> met with graziers and technical assistance providers working in and around his district. Nick Filannino of Wild Farm Alliance shared about the hedgerows planted at Bettevaria Farm in Santa Maria, funded through the <\/span>Pollinator Habitat Progra<\/b>m. Hart was interested to learn about a large-scale farm that had successfully adopted healthy soils practices, and wondered if they could host a demonstration tour for other farms in the area.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Grazier Jack Anderson shared that the<\/span> Healthy Soils Program<\/b> is heavily oversubscribed and Assemblymember Hart was excited to learn that a <\/span>CalPoly evaluation <\/span><\/a>found that over two-thirds of HSP grantees plan to use practices like cover cropping and composting after funding ended.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the same meeting, Cole Bush shared about her work with prescribed grazing through Shepherdess Land & Livestock Co. and the Grazing School of the West. \u201cI\u2019m really interested in growing graziers\u2026 there is a <\/span>growing demand for prescribed grazing in California<\/b>.\u201d Wildfires are one of the top sources of greenhouse gas emissions in California. Bush said she came to Sacramento to \u201crepresent the small agricultural industry at such a critical moment when we as agrarians practice daily solutions to mitigate the impacts of climate change<\/strong>. Supporting us through investments in agriculture directly supports the necessary resilience moving into the future.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Farmers Speak to Climate Challenges & Urgent Needs<\/b><\/h2>\n

Farmers also raised concerns about climate-related challenges:<\/span><\/p>\n